20 Roman skulls found in dig for London's Crossrail project may be from Boudicca's revolt

Construction workers digging tunnels for a new railway link under central London say they have found about 20 Roman skulls in the latest archaeological discovery by builders on the project.

Archaeologists said it was possible the remains, which were found along the historic River Thames tributary the River Walbrook, dated back to a rebellion by Queen Boudicca who led a revolt against the Roman occupation of Britain in the 1st Century.

"This isn't the first time that skulls have been found in the bed of the River Walbrook and many early historians suggested these people were killed during the Boudicca rebellion against the Romans," lead archaeologist Jay Carver said.

"We now think the skulls are possibly from a known Roman burial ground about 50 metres up river from our Liverpool Street station worksite."

The workers found the skulls along with Roman pottery underneath the Bedlam burial ground, established in the 16th century, where 3,000 skeletons will be removed next year during excavation work for the $24 billion Crossrail project, Europe's largest infrastructure project.

In March, archaeologists said they had found a graveyard which might hold the remains of 50,000 people killed by the Black Death more than 650 years ago.